Washington D.C. - Allie Alvarado is, in her own words, “all over the place.”  Years after playing guitar with Brooklyn’s Telepathe (one among a swath of other noise-electro acts she’s dealt with), she’s feeling quite comfortable in her role as D.C.-based electronica artist Painted Face.  And while her debut EP, Undreamt, doesn’t quite reflect her transitions, it maintains an interesting range of its own.  The four-track record consists of dark, dance throbbing bookended by crystalline pop.  Alvarado’s vocals, swooning and radiant, is the elegant overcoat.  Undreamt is a nice ear snack, basically.  Whatever comes next from Alvarado will likely take shape as she embarks on a west coast tour this month, she tells Magazine33 in a recent interview.

33: You’re booking your own tour for March.  What’s that experience like?
Allie Alvarado: It’s really fun, because you really get to listen to what’s going on in different cities.  It’s a lot of work, but it has a big payoff. 

33: You’re originally from D.C., but you were living in New York City before you took up the Painted Face moniker, playing with Telepathe and Blood Lines.  At what point did you decide to move in your own direction?
AA: I lived in New York for a long time.  I played in a lot of different bands, mostly played guitar.  (Telepathe and Blood Lines) are the ones that ended up having releases on the Social Registry.  I just kind of decided I really wanted to do more like producing and arranging stuff on a computer and thinking more about making beats.  So I decided to move back to kind of work on something that was more of a solo project.  My brother is a dance music producer - goes by Alvin Risk.  He and I had worked before in another band that I was in called Eystek; it felt like we collaborated really well, so I was excited to see what would happen with some material I’d worked on my own.

33: When you first started out, did you have Undreamt’s sound in mind?
AA: I don’t know if I really had much of a sound in mind.  I think it’s really easy to write stuff on a computer if you know ahead of time what you want to do or if there’s a style you’re trying to imitate.  Undreamt was a long time coming, and I ended up picking four songs out of a bunch of stuff I had.  I didn’t really have a vision going into it.

33: But were there particular sounds you were interested in?
AA: I’m definitely interested in sounds that are more nostalgic, that sound like instruments when they first started making music with synthesizers and samplers.  I listen to a lot of music from that era.  That’s probably what influences me pretty heavily.  For me, it’s kind of hard to place it in a genre, but I definitely think it has an 80s vibe.

33: In previous interviews, you’ve listed Brian Eno and other early 80s electronica legends as significant influences.
AA: Brian Eno is like a big influence for a lot of people.  The whole idea of ambient music is where he let sounds evolve over time.  Maybe things loop in and out at times, but they’re not really structured as much.  For a long time, I made music like that.  Then I kind of decided that I wanted to do sort of the opposite – make music that was a lot more structured, had more of a grid and a lot more clear parts.

33: So who does most of your “inspiring” these days?
AA: I think now I’m probably... [laughs] hard to say, I’m inspired by so many things.  It’s like picking your favorite ice cream flavor, and they’re all good [laughs].  I’ve also mentioned Kate Bush as an inspiration.  A lot of people don’t know that she’s also a producer, and one of the first to use samplers in her music.  I really appreciate that it’s highly arranged and meticulous; I like that there’s something always new, even though her music sounds like it’s from a different time.  She’s a big inspiration.

33: You act as producer for your own music, but so does your brother, right?  How exactly does that partnership work?
AA: I feel like I do a bulk of the songwriting, but when you work with someone, it's really nice if you need a closer listen or something.  And he’s really amazing at composing music, he’s really helpful.  What makes people producers is taking ownership of what kind of sounds you want to use, because it’s all about the sound - not necessarily in a technical way, more in the kind of design of the song.  It’s co-produced.

33: How would you describe the musical relationship with your brother?  Obviously, you two are pretty close, but can the same be said about your tastes?
AA: Our tastes have gotten similar since we started working together.  We have always been pretty close, but there were years when he was DJing raves and I was in noise bands.  It was very separate.  As we’ve worked together, it’s intersected more, but I think it’s also because we’ve been doing music longer, so you’re more open to a lot more different sounds instead of being defined by a particular kind of music.  It’s more about liking everything that’s good.  I listen to so much more dance music than when I started playing guitar in bands a long time ago.  At the same time, we definitely have different approaches, unique brains, so what comes out is completely different.

33: Alvin lived in D.C. while you were in New York, and his career as a DJ and producer has gotten some traction as well right?
AA: He’s got an EP, it’s called the Making Of, and he’s done a bunch of dance remixes recently.  It’s awesome. He’s got his own thing going on.  We’re really supportive of each other, working together and stuff.  It’s pretty cool.

33: So obviously the tour is looming up ahead, but where do you want to go from here?
AA: We have music that’s pretty much done but not ready to be released.  I think the next thing is to finish some more stuff, and then put it up.  But I think playing live has given me perspective – I feel like, "I should be playing more dancey songs, I want to be moving!"  But then it’s like, "You know, I should be playing guitar over this stuff, it’d more intimate."  I’m kind of all over the place.  I don’t know if it’s moved me closer to anything, but it’s definitely made me think about things a lot differently.

33: What do you try to accomplish with your live show, considering you’re the heavy electronica aspect of your sound?
AA: It’s hard when you make songs with a computer.  You spend a lot of time making them really perfect and listen to it on headphones.  But when you take it live and off the laptop, the last thing you want is for it to seem like karaoke.  That’s the reason I wanted a backing band playing the music – to give it a little bit more spontaneity.  I definitely think that something that has been important is the sensation of making you feel.  I want to make it so that the songs come through, so it’s more like a journey, not one song after another.

33: Any good shows you’ve seen lately?
 AA: I think my stand out was Janelle Monáe at the 9:30 Club.  She’s awesome.  She opened for Of Montreal, and I feel like she sold the show.  She’s raw talent, which is super-inspiring.  You could take everything else away, and it would still just be about her voice.

PaintedFaceMusic.com

MySpace.com/PaintedFaceMusic

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